Road-grading apparatus



P. M'. CADWELL. ROAD GRADING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2, 1920. 1,355,938, m Patented Oct. 19,1920.

INVENTOR. PM CADWELL.

A @MMRQAM A TTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHINEAS- M. CADWELL, OF MALVERN, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO CADWELL & SALYERS, OF MALVER-N, IOWA, A COPARTNERSIIIP COMPOSED OF PI-IINEAS M. CADWELL AND WILLIAM I H. SALYERS.

ROAD-GRADING- APPARATUS.

Patented-Oct. 19, 1920.

Application filed February 2, 1920. Serial No. 355,862.

To all to from it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHINEAS M. CADWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at lt falvern, in the county of Mills and State of Iowa, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Road-Grading Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to grading apparatus adapted for use in excavating and more particularly in building roads, where it becomes necessary to cut off hills, fill in gullies and the like; and the general obj ect of the invention is to provide an apparatus of a practical character by means of which the cost of labor and construction generally may be reduced to a minimum.

More specifically, one of the objects of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character indicated which combines the features of simplicity, power, and low cost of manufacture.

A serious difficulty which has rendered former devices of this general character impractical is the great tendency of the cable employed in hauling the scoops, to become worn by reason of its frictional contact wlth the winding drum. An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved cable actuating mechanism consisting of a plurality of sheaves adapted to overcome to a maximum degree the objection referred to.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for positioning the portions or strands of the cable traveling in opposite directions and carrying the loaded and empty scoops respectively, relative to each other and to the work in the grading operation.

' The objects of the invention thus generally stated together with other and ancillary advantages are attained by the construction and arrangement illustrated in the accompanying. drawings wherein I have illusrated one embodiment of the invention. I desire to have it understood that although the invention is illustrated and hereinafter described with considerable particularity, it is not'intended to be limited to the precise construction and arrangement shown since various other embodiments of the invention may be constructed without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary the scoops are dctachably connected to the cable.

The V apparatus comprises generally an endless cable 7 actuating mechanism 8 for the cable, an anchoring device 9 for the cable at the end of the apparatus opposite the actuating mechanism, and a series of scoops 10 arranged to be detachably connected to the cable. 11 designates generally a frame (Fig. 3) by means of which the oppositely traveling strands of the cable are positioned relative to each other at one end of the apparatus, while 12 indicates guiding means for relatively positioning the strands of the cable at the opposite end of the apparatus.

The cable 7 may be of any preferred character, being preferably made of wire; and is of the endless type forming strands 7 and 7 traveling in opposite directions. The strand 7 is herein designated the draft cable and the strand 7 the return cable. I

The actuating mechanism Scompriss two sets of sheaves 13, said sets being mounted respectively on shafts 14 and lat journaled in a frame 15. The shafts 1 1 and 14: also have fixed thereon spur gears 16 near their opposite ends which mesh with pinions 17 fixed upon a drive shaft 18 also j ournaled in the frame. The drive shaft carries at its free end a pulley 19 adapted to be actuated from any suitable source of power. Herein, the shaft 14 has fixed thereon two sheaves 13 which constitute one set, and the shaft 1 1 carries three sheaves 13 which constitute another set. The sheaves on each of said shafts are spaced apart and relatively arranged so that the cable 7 runs first to a sheave of the rear set, thence to a sheave of the forward set, and back and forth between of the sheaves is preferably V-shaped in form, and the sheaves of the respective sets are relatively arranged so that the walls thereof which are engaged by the cable in running from a sheave of one set to a sheave of the other are substantially in alinement. By this arrangement the cable is prevented from riding upon the rims of the grooves to any appreciable extent.

In order to insure against slippage of the cable, eachof the sheaves is provided at the bottom of its V groove with a groove 20, of a Width less than the thickness of the cable,

so as to cause the cable to engage with the spectively arranged to guide the draft cable 7 to the under side of the first sheave of the rear set and from the upper side of the last sheave of the rear set;

The anchoring device 9 for the cable at the end of the apparatus opposite the actu-' ating mechanism 8 may be of any suitable or preferred character. Herein, it is shown as consisting of a platform 26 arranged to be anchored in a suitable way to the ground, as by means of devices 27, and having mounted thereon a sheave 28 between the platform and a spider 29 fixed thereon.

The scoops 10 may be of any preferred type and are detachably secured to the cable 7 as by means of the device shown in Fig. 6..

Said device consists of a block 30 having pivoted thereon a cam lever 31 adapted to cooperate with a jaw 32 on the block, the parts being so arranged that a pull of the cable upon the scoop tends to tighten the clamp on the cable. It will be seen that while the clamp is arranged to effectively secure the scoops to the cable, they are at the same time capable of easy detachment.

The means for relatively positioning the opposite strands of the cable at the end of the apparatus adjacent the actuating mechanism may be of any suitable or preferred construction. Herein, by way of example, I have shown aframe 33 suitably supported in upright position as by means of guy ropes 34 and comprising a pair of parallel bars 33 and 33 located one above the other and having a plurality of apertures 35 .for re-.

ceiving vertical supporting rods 36 for guide pulleys 37. By this arrangement, the space between the opposite strands of the cable may be readily varied as may be desired. Moreover, it will be observed that the guide pulleys 37 are free to move vertically on their supporting rods within the limits defined by the bars 33 and 33 so as to accommodate the cable to the various degrees of elevation in the road being graded.

The guiding means 12 for the cable at the end of the apparatus opposite the guiding means 11 are provided for the purpose of varying the positions of the cables in accordance with the progress of the work without necessitating the movement of-the anchoring ,device 9. This guiding means 12 may also be of any preferred type being herein shown as consisting of a pair of pulleys 38 mounted on pivots 39 mounted in arms 40 which are suitably anchored to the ground.

It will be understood that the apparatus may be of any preferred size, but I have found in practice that it is possible to extend it over a long expanse of territory to be graded, and of course, as many scoops may be employed as may seem desirable. After the apparatus has been located, the scoops are manipulated by one or more men at the desired point, so that they will become filled, and are then carried byythe I draft cable to the point where they are to be dumped- After'the scoop is dumped the attendant'detaches it from the power cable and drags it over to the return cable, attaching it thereto for carriage to the point of filling. It will be seen that by the guiding means 11 and 12 the cables may be readily positioned so as to minimize the work of handling the scoops as well as to properly position the cables with reference to the point or points to be graded.

I have also found in practice that with the use of winding mechanism of types other than that which I- employ herein, such, for example, as winding drums, the wear on the cable is so great as to render the apparatus wholly impractical, whereas my improved construction and arrangement for the cable gripping means'of' the actuating mechanism permits of the operation of the apparatus for a substantially indefinite length of time without showing appreciable wear upon the cable.

It will thus be apparent that I have produced a'road gradlng apparatus of a very practical character, whichis relatively simple in construction, which may be operated witha minimum expenditure of effort and labor on the part of the attendants, and which is of maximum durability,

I claim as my invention:

1; A road grading apparatus comprising, incombination, an endless cable, cable ac-v tuating mechanism at one end of the apparatus, ananchoring device for the cable at the other end ofthe apparatus, a plurality of scoops adapted to be detachably con- I nected to the cable, and an upright frame having a pair of guide pulleys for the opposite strands of the cable, said pulleys being mounted in the frame so as to be laterally adjustable to vary the positions of the cable strands as the work progresses.

2. A grading and excavating apparatus comprising, in combination, a frame, a pair of shafts mounted in parallel relation on said frame and spaced a substantial distance apart, a drive shaft also mounted on the frame intermediate said pair of shafts and having a gearing connection with both of said pair of shafts, an endless cable, a plurality of cable-gripping sheaves on each of said pair of shafts arranged so that the cable passes successively from a sheave 011 one shaft to a sheave on the other shaft with the incoming and outgoing strands of the cable traveling in opposite directions with reference to each other and in substantially parallelrelation, an anchoring sheave for the cable adapted to be fixed at a point removed from the frame, and a lurality of scoops having means whereby t ey may be detachably secured to the oppositely traveling strands of the cable.

3. In a grading apparatus, the combination with an endless cable, of actuating mechanism therefor comprising a pair of parallel shafts carrying respectively a forward and a rear set of sheaves, each set comprising a plurality of sheaves having substantially V-shaped grooves arranged to grip and guide the cable from one set to the other in succession, and the sheaves of.

one set being arranged in vertical planes substantially midway between pairs of sheaves of the opposite set.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with an endless cable, of actuating means thereforcomprising a pair of horizontal substantially parallel shafts carrying respectively two sets of sheaves, and means for rotating said sheaves, the sheaves of each set being spaced apart and positioned with reference to the sheaves of the opposite set so as to permit of the substantially unrestricted movement of the cable successively from one set to the other, there being a greater number of sheaves in one set than in the other.

5. A grading and excavating apparatus comprising, in combination, a frame, a pair of shafts mounted in parallel relation on said frame and spaced a substantial distance apart, means for driving at least one of said shafts, an endless cable, a plurality of cable-gripping sheaves on eachof said shafts arranged so that the cable passes successively from a sheave on one shaft to a sheave on the other shaft with the incoming and outgoing strands of the cable traveling in opposite directions with reference to each other and in substantially parallel relation, an anchoring sheave for the cable adapted to be fixed at a point removed from the frame, and one or more scoops having means whereby they may be detachably secured to eitherthe incoming or outgoing strands of the cable.

6. A grading and excavating apparatus comprising, in combination, a frame, a pair of shafts mounted in spaced parallel rela tion on said frame, means for driving at least one of said shafts, an endless cable,

a plurality of cable-gripping sheaves on each of said shafts arranged so that the cable passes successively from a sheave on one shaft to a sheave on the other shaft with the incoming and outgoing strands of the cable traveling in opposite directions with reference to each other and in substantially parallel relation, an anchoring sheave for the cable adapted to be fixed at a point removed from the frame, and one or more scoops having means whereby they may be detachably secured to either the incoming or outgoing strands of the cable, said frame having mounted thereon a pair of pulleys operable to guide the strands of the cable passing to and from the actuating sheaves.

7. An excavating apparatus comprising, in combination, a frame, a pair of shafts -mounted. in parallel relation upon said frame, a drive shaft also mounted on the frame and having a gearing connection with eachof said pair of shafts, an endless cable, a plurality of cable-gripping sheaves mounted on said pair of shafts and arranged to successively receive and guide the cable with the incoming and outgoing strands thereof traveling oppositely, guide pulleys mounted on the frame at one end thereof whereby to maintain the incoming and outgoing strands of the cable substantially parallel, an anchoring device adapted to be secured a spaced distance from the frame, and means between the frame and the anchoring device for positioning the cable with reference to the work.

8. An apparatus of the character described comprising, in combination, a draft cable and a return cable, actuating mechanism for the cables, an anchoring device for the cables at the end of the apparatus opposite said actuating mechanism, a pair of guide pulleys adjacent said anchoring device for positioning the strands of the cablerelative to each other and with reference to the work, and means for guiding the cables into and from the actuating mechanism including a pair of guide pulleys,

mounted for movement longitudinally upon upright axes.

In testimonywhereof I have hereunto set w my hand.

PHINEAS M. CADWELL. 

